The DEI Phrasebook – Decoded
10 phrases that reveal institutional surrender to progressive orthodoxy.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) bomb finally detonated around 2020. It had been years, maybe even decades, in the making – assembled inside the academy and then refined in institutions already steeped in the language of political correctness. It just needed a perfectly calibrated trigger.
The trigger, as it turned out, was George Floyd, whose death amid the strange, highly charged atmosphere of COVID lockdowns turned us all into spectators of a moral panic. Millions sat at home glued to their smartphones as the madness of crowds played out on social media with endless footage of “largely peaceful protests”, statues tumbling and politicians taking the knee.
Then came the turn of corporations. In the months that followed, performative statements flooded LinkedIn, diversity officers were hired by the thousand, and hashtags begged for attention in every thread and feed.
It’s tempting to look back on those events as if they were a curious aberration, a moment of hysteria brought about by lockdown cabin fever. Today, it’s common to hear that “woke is dead” – and it's true that many DEI programmes have been shut down or rebranded. The finger-wagging sanctimony has been toned down a few notches, too.
But what remains is the language: a distinct and unmistakable lexicon with a long half-life. This is the fallout from a blast we thought was long behind us. DEI no longer marches through institutions with a fanfare, but it operates as background radiation. Wave the Geiger counter over policy small print or the latest HR initiative, and you’ll hear the familiar crackling of progressive orthodoxy.
The language has insinuated itself into corporations and public bodies across the Western world, becoming almost invisible through constant repetition. Phrases that sound benign on the surface mask a cold system of enforcement that continues to reward fluency in Newspeak while punishing dissent. Taken together, they form a closed moral system – one that begins with empathy and ends with coercion.
Here are a few phrases you’ve probably heard before.
1. “We’re on a journey”
The world’s most overused corporate metaphor is also a favourite of institutions haemorrhaging money on failed DEI initiatives. Bud Light went on a journey with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April 2023 and ended up in corporate hell. The brand lost its spot as America’s top-selling beer, two marketing executives were put on leave, and the whole debacle cost a billion dollars in lost sales.
The BBC has been on a journey since around 1997 at the expense of licence-fee payers. It doesn’t seem to know quite where it’s going, but it keeps taking a left turn, often detouring into fashionable gender politics. The journey has also led it to stories that align with Hamas narratives. Despite the costs to its reputation, the BBC remains convinced the destination is an important one (whatever that may be) and that the journey mustn’t stop until the end, which will come eventually and mercifully for all involved.
2. “Bringing your whole self to work”
Silicon Valley invented this one. The idea was that workers would bring their creativity and passion to the job. Instead, they brought their politics and personal grievances.
It turns out there’s only really a problem if your “whole self” doesn’t align with “correct thinking”. Don’t bring your whole Christian self to work – the one who opposes abortion or thinks polygamy is a bad idea. That won’t go down too well. Think national borders might be a good thing? That whole self had better stay away, too. A gender-critical whole self? Don’t be silly. Best put all those whole selves back in their box, or wave your career goodbye.
You might remember Google’s James Damore. He brought his whole self to work – specifically, the part interested in evolutionary psychology. He was fired within days for “perpetuating gender stereotypes” after writing a memo about biological differences in career preferences. The memo claimed Google operated as an ideological echo chamber intolerant of dissenting views. His firing proved him right.
3. “Brave conversations”
Have you had a brave conversation recently? Maybe following a cancer diagnosis or after explaining to your husband why you’re leaving him. We’re not talking about any of that. We’re talking about “courageous dialogue” with your line manager following an apparent “microaggression”. Turns out you need more training in how to think and when to declare your pronouns.
These conversations tend to begin with an admission of privilege, followed by an acknowledgement of harm, and conclude with a commitment to growth. Actual conversation – the kind where people disagree and minds change – never happens. That’s the wrong sort of bravery. The proper kind is where you confess to thought crimes you didn’t know existed.
4. “Educate yourself”
You’ve probably come across this rebuke in a comment section at some point. Perhaps it was directed at you after saying “all lives matter” in what you thought was a noble, unifying sentiment we can all agree upon. Educate yourself.
This is a phrase professional activists and scolds deploy when they can’t defend their position. It’s the go-to for transforming intellectual laziness into moral superiority.
What “educate yourself” really means is this: read the approved texts so as to arrive at the conclusions I agree with – what we used to call indoctrination. Any other outcome is seen as proof of moral and intellectual deficiency.
Real education, of course, involves weighing evidence, considering counter-arguments, and risking being wrong, which is why the progressive ideologues hate it.
5. “Psychological safety”
Google popularised this phrase, which made its way into every workplace in Silicon Valley and beyond. “Psychological safety” was meant to encourage an environment where people can take risks and make mistakes without fear. That was a nice idea while it lasted.
Today, it means an environment where nobody can disagree with progressive orthodoxy without being invited to an HR struggle session. The safest spaces, it turns out, are wherever difficult questions are never asked. Feeling “unsafe” is now what happens when we challenge someone’s views on immigration or question whether men can become pregnant. JK Rowling has spent years being told her defence of women’s spaces makes trans people “unsafe”.
6. “Lived experience”
This one refuses to die, which is a tragedy because few ideas on this list have wrought so much chaos and misery as the idea of “lived experience”.
